turn of phrase

Compare trope, with same sense of “turn” to mean indirect language.

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turn of phrase (countable and uncountable, plural turns of phrase)

1. (countable) An expression which is worded in a distinctive way, especially one which is particularly memorable or artful.
   • 1922, Dorothy Canfield, “Chapter 43”, in Rough-Hewn:

     "I should call it a most nice sort of surprise," remarked the girl with a quaintly un-English turn of phrase which he had already noticed and thought the most delightful thing in the world.

2. (uncountable) A distinctive way of wording things, a distinctive way of writing or speaking.

   Synonyms: style, prose

   This author has a beautiful turn of phrase.

• turn a phrase

• figure of speech

• “turn of phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.